LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Engineering and construction consultancy Driver Group reported an underlying profit before tax of £1.0m for its first-half on Tuesday, narrowing from £1.3m year-on-year, resulting in an underlying profit before tax margin of 4%, in line with the prior year.

The AIM-traded firm said its profit before tax fell to £0.9m for the six months ended 31 March, from £1.3m in the first half of the 2020 financial year, while net cash increased to £7.2m from £3.3m.

Revenue was down 11.0% at £25.0m, which the board put down to the impact of Covid-19, while gross profit decreased £0.8m to £6.4m.

Driver's fee-earner headcount narrowed by 28 to 301, with an increase in Europe and the Americas offset by decreases in both Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

Overall utilisation rates stood at 72.1%, down slightly from 73.1% a year earlier.

Geographically, Europe and the Americas reported underlying profit before tax of £2.5m, up from £1.7m, with utilisation rates in line with the prior year at 71.6%.

The company's Middle East operations recorded an underlying loss before tax of £0.4m, having broken even in the first half of 2020, with utilisation rates rising to 75% from 72.3%.

Its underlying loss before tax in the Asia-Pacific region was £0.3m, swinging from a profit of £0.6m a year earlier, with utilisation rates falling to 67.6% from 77.1%.

"The group has continued to perform well despite the ongoing disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic," said chairman Steve Norris.

"Meaningful progress has been made on implementing the five year strategy, and this has positioned the group well for future growth as restrictions following the pandemic are relaxed and we see the widely anticipated improvement in our key markets."

At 1037 BST, shares in Driver Group were up 2.04% at 50p.

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